How are you getting your first customers for an e-commerce store with no ad budget?

I’m building a small clothing brand from USA and I’m trying to grow without paid ads. So far I’ve been testing Pinterest boards and SEO for traffic, but it’s slow and I can’t tell what’s actually working.

For those of you who’ve launched a physical product store:

1. What was your first channel that brought real customers, not just visitors?

2. How long did SEO or Pinterest take before you saw results?

3. Is there a metric you wish you’d tracked from day one?

I’d love to hear what worked and what was a waste of time. I’ll share what I learn from this thread in a follow-up.